Alcatel-Lucent scores Russian WiMAX deal

Alcatel-Lucent scored a significant WiMAX deal with Russian operator Synterra to build a nationwide rural WiMAX network. The deal calls for Alcatel-Lucent mobile WiMAX equipment in 1000 Russian towns by the end of 2008. Synterra has a national license in the 2.5 GHz band and plans to work with regional operators throughout Russia to build the network for broadband access in towns with populations smaller than 100,000 throughout Russia. As Telephony notes, the deal is the first major announced deployment of beam forming antenna solutions. Beam forming is supposed to allow carriers to spread out their WiMAX footprints since a single base station can cover up to 40 percent more area than one without the technology.

For more about Alcatel-Lucent's deal with Synterra:
- read this Telephony article